Africa must begin to finance its development from the wealth generated by its own natural resources rather than continue to depend on external financing while exporting the industrial value embedded in those resources, the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has said.

The organisation made the position in its response to the Nigeria–United States critical minerals framework signed in New York in September, arguing that Africa’s mineral wealth should serve as a source of domestic resource mobilisation and industrial development.

ITUC-Africa said the continent could not continue seeking development finance abroad while allowing revenues, productive capacity and industrial value from its natural resources to flow outward.

In a statement by its General Secretary, Joel Odigie, ITUC-Africa warned that replacing crude oil exports with exports of lithium, rare earths and other unprocessed minerals would leave the underlying structure of dependency unchanged.

“Changing the commodity without changing the structure of extraction is not economic transformation,” the organisation said.

According to ITUC-Africa, the challenge facing Nigeria and other African countries is therefore not simply how to attract foreign investment into mining, but how to ensure that mineral resources generate domestic industries, decent employment, public revenues, technological capacity and broader economic development.

The organisation said Nigeria’s position as one of Africa’s largest economies, with a large workforce and consumer market, gave it the capacity to build domestic industries around its mineral resources rather than remain primarily an exporter of raw materials.

It said Nigeria’s choices in managing its mineral wealth could set precedents for resource governance across Africa, particularly as critical minerals become increasingly important to the global economy.

ITUC-Africa, however, said there was insufficient public information about the Nigeria–US framework, including specific projects, financing commitments, mineral volumes, pricing, offtake arrangements, duration, governance and enforceable domestic beneficiation obligations.

It also clarified that the widely reported figure of $700 billion refers to an estimate of Nigeria’s mineral resources and does not represent a $700 billion investment commitment by the United States.

The labour organisation called for publication of the full framework and enforceable safeguards covering domestic beneficiation, local content, technology transfer, decent work, taxation, public revenues, environmental protection and benefits for host communities.

It further questioned the extent of legislative scrutiny of the framework, asking what discussions had taken place in the National Assembly, including the Senate, before its advancement.

ITUC-Africa said agreements involving strategic national resources should be subjected to legislative scrutiny, public debate and institutional oversight to ensure that mineral wealth contributes to inclusive economic development.

Guided by the African Union’s Africa Mining Vision, the organisation said it would continue to advocate for transparent and equitable resource governance, domestic value addition and the use of mineral revenues to finance industrialisation, decent jobs and shared prosperity.